Ultraman Pseudo
by NoLemonsHere
Summary: Masato can become an Ultraman. Or can he? When the world is besieged by shape-shifting aliens called the Shiftuners, aliens who seem to be able to counter everything the old Ultramen can throw at them, the world's only hope may not be a true Ultra Warrior this time. Maybe the next best thing will have to do.


_**Hello reader. I only recently started watching Ultraman, and only recently restarted writing on FFnet again, so I figured it'd be a good time to branch out of my comfort zone and give this a shot, rather than go back on all my other stories from before that I don't want to touch. This story is an idea I had shortly after starting watching Orb. Let me know how it is. Sidenote: I'm trying to keep names in traditional Japanese style, i.e., family name first  
**_

* * *

_Among the smoldering wreckage of what had been a town, there stood two giant figures. A tall red and silver humanoid with a fin on his head faced down a great orange mass that had a vaguely humanoid shape, but the actual features changed continuously, each time into something to use against the silver opponent. The fin headed metal man was battling ferociously, but nothing seemed to be causing lasting damage, the once blue jewel on his chest now flashed red ominously. All of a sudden, the silver man made a cross shape with his arms, and light began to pour out from the place where the arms met. But before anything could happen, the orange mass's arm extended rapidly, til it was grabbing a silver neck, and then turning, swinging the giant like a shot put before letting go and sending him flying, before landing with a loud thud. _

_As the silver titan struggled to get up, the orange beast's head folded open at the front, where the face would have been. Inside was a woman in a white suit; when she spoke, her voice carried out, all across the burnt former town, despite her words not being shouted._

_"My my, Ultraman. It seems to me, that you weren't able to handle Kaiser Shiftune as well as you promised you would. Maybe you're slipping up in your old age?" Hearing this, the titan called out, whilst struggling to get up, "Not at all! It only seems difficult for now, but you will not win! Evil will never win against us, the Ultra-" Ultraman was suddenly stopped by a high pitched noise that caused him to again go to the ground. The woman inside the orange form smirked, holding up the still vibrating tuning fork. "Must you go on with that justice tirade? I'd much rather seal your powers now so I can move on to the next stage." As she said this, she twisted a ring on the handle of the fork. A light traveled up the handle and the prongs of the fork, then flew out to Ultraman and grew, trapping him in a transparent pulsating green orb, in which he writhed in seeming agony. The orb shrunk continuously down, and as it did, it became more and more opaque, offering less of a view of Ultraman inside. When it had shrunk to a circumference of 7 feet, it vanished, and Ultraman was gone, in his place, an older man, gasping for air. There was no Ultraman present, only Hayata Shin._

_The woman laughed cruelly. "Oh my, it looks like Ultraman isn't as invincible as the legends say. Are you still going to tell me 'evil' will never win against Ultraman?"_  
_Before Hayata could respond, a new voice shouted, "It never will!"_

_All eyes turned to see a man looking to be in his early 20s, walking to wards the scene of the fight. "The Ultras will never lose! Your defeat of this one means nothing, Shiftune cannot win!"_  
_The woman scoffed. "Masato, so you're here. That's quite a bit of confidence you have in the Ultramen. Confidence you of all people probably don't deserve, considering you were why we made it this far."_  
_"Perhaps you're right" Masato responded, as he made his way towards Hayata. "Perhaps this started because I was selfish and impulsive. But do you know what? It doesn't matter anymore." He stretched his hand out to Hayata, who took it and pulled himself up. "It doesn't matter, because now, I will make up for it by destroying you myself!" Masato pulled from his jacket a tuning fork like the woman's, and a dull blue jewel, which Hayata looked at in shock. "The Doom Timer? Masato, Don't do this to yourself, this could kill you!"  
__"No Masato, please do. One less problem for us!" The woman called out with a chuckle.  
Masato turned to Hayata with a smile. "I know it could, but that's okay. Ultraman isn't afraid to die, and if I hope to be one, I have to start taking the risks"_

_Masato tapped the tuning fork against the jewel, and a gentle breeze flew out following the tune the fork made. As it traveled out, all the surrounding fires were suddenly snuffed out. The jewel began glowing blue, and little electric sparks formed around it. Masato took a moment to look at the shine as he returned the fork to his pocket, before slapping it to his chest and shouting "My light is not the light of heroes, but it will still drive out the darkness!" As he said it, his whole body shone extremely brightly. A cheery whistling could be heard, as well as Hayata shouting Masato's name._

* * *

**_6 weeks later. . ._**

* * *

"The 8:00 train has now arrived. Passengers, please proceed to the terminal in an orderly fashion, and have your passports and boarding passes ready."

Naofumi Hanabi gave herself a quick look over in her compact mirror before she rose from her seat. She wanted to make sure she looked alright; this was her first time seeing her cousin since they were children. After making sure her face was alright and, most importantly, her shirt was on right with the picture noticeable, she got up and walked out the train door. She had on a shirt with a picture on the chest: a two parallel swirls of yellow in a mix of blue and green. Her cousin had sent the shirt to her and told her to make sure she wore it at their meeting in the train station.

She was just about to take her phone out to call her cousin to tell she was there, when she hear a voice behind her. "So, did you wear it?" Hanabi turned, recognizing the voice as her cousin, and gave a smile. "Yes I did, just like I promised." She spread her arms out a little to show him. He got a huge grin. "Excellent!"

The two came together for a quick hug, before he held her out at arm's length to let them look at each other. "Did you shrink?" Hana laughed. "You jerk! I'm at least 40 cm taller now! Just because I can't be a 182 cm monster like you. . ."  
"Oh well." Her cousin said with a good-natured laugh. "Sorry if I hurt your feelings with that remark." "You didn't" "Okay than I'm not sorry. But seriously, you look great. And I hope you'll enjoy your stay here" Hanabi nodded. "Thank you. And I hope I can too. Which reminds me. You said you wanted me to come to Osaka because there was something you wanted my help with? What did you me-"

"**KAIJU**"

He had shouted this, quite loudly, and quite suddenly, in the middle of the train station, before realizing, turning red, and continuing in a softer tone. "As I was trying to say, there's been giant monsters in the area, and I'm part of the group the city council put together to track them. I figured, since you said you were out of a job, and I know you have a better head than me for calculating, then maybe you'd be interested? It pays modestly, and it can be fun"

Hanabi thought for a minute. Admittedly, she did need a job, after getting fired from her previous job for an unfair judgement in an incident with a pheasant. And maybe she didn't share her cousin's hyper enthusiasm for monsters, but she was at least interested in them. So she said "Yes, I think that'll work out well"

Her cousin's eyes glinted with excitement, and for a moment Hanabi thought she saw a glow come out from under his shirt on his chest. "That's great! Together, you and I will find every kaiju, or my name isn't Naofumi Masato!"


End file.
